


In Alien Waters

by PersonalSpin



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Courtship, Gift Giving, Human/Monster Romance, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peapod McHanzo Week, Shape of Water AU, Torture, Unethical Experimentation, Wrongful Imprisonment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-03 08:07:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17280254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersonalSpin/pseuds/PersonalSpin
Summary: Even pressed together like this it was impossible to ignore how alien McCree was.A Shape of Water AU for Peapod McHanzo Week '19.





	1. Day One: Oh My God They Were Roommates!

He had to be hefted across the last few feet of the bathroom and McCree slid into the bathtub with a bone deep sigh. Hanzo collapsed against the side of the tub and pressed his forehead against the cool porcelain. He stayed there for a moment, catching his breath, until he felt a rough hand brush against his hair. The sweaty tufts at his temples, streaked with grey, which no matter how Hanzo tried he could never get to lie flat and which McCree adored for some reason.  
  
McCree peered over the side of the tub, warbling softly as he pet over Hanzo's face. Hanzo caught his hand and smiled wanly. "I am fine, my love," he said, pressing a kiss to McCree's scaley knuckles. "It has simply been a long day."  
  
McCree trilled in reply but was apparently satisfied and sank deeper into the bathtub. Hanzo left him to soak as he stepped outside to call Genji. His brother picked up on the first ring, also sounding out of breath. "Is he-?"  
  
"Yes, he's here. He is safe," Hanzo said quickly. Genji's let out a heavy sigh of relief, and it wasn't until that moment that Hanzo realised what he had done. He pressed a hand over his eyes as he slid down the wall, knees suddenly weak. "We made it, he is in the bathtub right now. I- I think he will be OK. We did it." Hanzo choked on a laugh that even he knew was a little hysterical, swallowing it down before he could make a fool of himself. "How are the others, did everyone else get out OK?"  
  
"We're all good here, we weren't the ones being smuggled out of a Talon facility," Genji said glibly, and the attempt at humour was weak at best but Hanzo chuckled anyway. "We're currently outside Annapolis listening to Talon comm chatter. It looks like they lost us outside Baltimore county."  
  
Hanzo hummed in acknowledgement but truly he was distracted by the sound of splashing behind him. He listened for a moment but McCree went still again and he turned back to his comm. "Good, stay there until we know for certain."  
  
"Copy that, we'll get comfy. The plan's still to release him in a couple of days once the water rises, right?"  
  
Hanzo opened his mouth but the words stuck in his throat and he found he had nothing to say. The silence stretched between them like a silk thread, spun from all of the selfish wants Hanzo harboured and didn't have the courage to say. Genji knew though, and the shame washed over Hanzo once more as Genji let out another tired sigh. "Hanzo-"  
  
"I know," Hanzo snapped, harsher than he'd meant to be. He took a deep breath and Genji gave him a moment to compose himself. "I know," he repeated in a whisper. "He does not deserve to live in a cage, he doesn't belong..."  
  
Genji didn't remind Hanzo of everything he already knew, that McCree could never be happy in a tank, being kept like an exotic pet. Letting him return to the sea was the kindest thing they could do for him and no less than what he deserved, but Hanzo's heart still ached.  
  
"It is the only thing we can do for him," Hanzo said, suddenly tired.  
  
Genji was kind enough to steer the conversation back to the business of extracting Hanzo from Baltimore with Talon on the lookout for anything that looked like a Overwatch transport. They'd have a debriefing about the attack on the Talon facility later, and hand over any last information Hanzo had obtained. All that remained was for Hanzo to lie low for a few days until the bay rose with the rain. Simple, really.  
  
Before he ended the call, Genji was quiet for a second. "It'll be over soon enough, _anija_ ," he said gently. "See you soon, OK? Stay safe."  
  
Hanzo disconnected the call and stayed on the floor for a long minute, the comm smashed into his forehead as he stared at the floor. It was all selfishness, the twinges in his heart, and he castigated himself for such useless feelings. No matter how he felt, it wouldn't change anything. Talon had searched for a being like McCree for twenty years and had only found him six months ago; when they released him, Hanzo would likely never see him again. He needed to make peace with that, or when McCree left Hanzo's heart would leave with him.  
  
There was more splashing behind him and Hanzo looked up in time to see McCree step out of the bathroom with an inquisitive trill. "I am here, McCree. Have you finished soaking?" Hanzo asked, rubbing at his face and grimacing as he touched where the comm had dug into his skin.  
  
McCree croaked at him as he crouched down, his dark eyes luminous in the dark apartment. He reached out slowly, taking the comm from him and setting it aside before pulling Hanzo to him with a soft warble. Hanzo let himself be wrapped up in McCree's arms, burying his face in the warm scales of McCree's neck and feeling the rumble of his chest against him. Even pressed together like this it was impossible to ignore how alien McCree was — covered in bright red scales with a strong tail that was wrapping around Hanzo's leg from knee to ankle, the furry tip swiping across his skin. His claws were gentle as he played with Hanzo's sideburns and he warbled in delight as he rubbed his cheek against the top of Hanzo's head.  
  
He was a better man than Hanzo deserved, and that helped to steel his heart.  
  
They got up off the floor eventually, once Hanzo was thoroughly soaked and McCree no doubt famished. He tore apart the kelp Hanzo had procured for him and begged in high trills until Hanzo shared some of his own fish with him. As a roommate McCree had only simple physical needs; however, regular soaks in the bathtub and brown algae to eat were not very stimulating for a creature used to swimming free around his small island home in the Galápagos Islands. It was only as Hanzo watched McCree stalk between the living room and the kitchen to the bathroom and back again that he realised how _small_ and spartan it was.  
  
Hanzo had been living in the small apartment for seven months as he infiltrated Talon, though truly he only used it as a place to eat and sleep before he returned to the facility. He could have spent the next few days quietly and suffered only mild boredom, but McCree had exhausted everything there was to do in the apartment for a being that couldn't read and had no interest in meditation in only a few hours. He had investigated every inch of the apartment and stared out of the windows at the dull grey skies, and clearly his gentleness and patience were already being tested.  
  
They were supposed to be lying low — they had supplies enough to last until the rain arrived, and no good reason to leave the apartment. What Hanzo should _not_ be doing was going out into the city to look for entertainment for the creature he had recently liberated from a lab, but the blatant curiosity on McCree's face when he hauled in an old TV and the joy when it turned on was worth it. He liked the noise, even if he didn't seem to understand all of it, and as the light failed McCree watched the play of the light across the spackled ceiling as much as the screen.  
  
They spent that evening sprawled across the lumpy sofa, McCree's head in Hanzo's lap as he stroked over the bony ridges of his eyebrow and nuchal crest, listening to the canned laughter from the TV. McCree grunted as he stretched his long limbs, his toes flexing, trilling in lazy contentment.  
  
"You lazy lizard," Hanzo cooed, tweaking his ear and laughing when McCree flicked at him. McCree rubbed his cheek against Hanzo's stomach, looking up at him with lazy, half-lidded eyes as he pushed up the hem of Hanzo shirt. "What are you doing- _oh_."  
  
McCree licked over his stomach again, his dark eyes fixed on Hanzo. He made a desperate, warbling noise of his own as McCree started to paw at his pants and his broad, warm palm curled around him.  
  
Outside, the rain began to fall.


	2. Day 2: AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Please note the updated tags!** they should be slightly more descriptive now. they'll likely continue to update as the fic goes on so please keep an eye on them.
> 
> if you've watched the movie, u sort of know what to expect as i don't plan on deviating too much from the plot and general tone. those of you who haven't watched the movie; fair warning, it gets very dark in places.

_Six Months Earlier_  
  
The Talon base was on the outskirts of Baltimore, in an otherwise quiet and unassuming town. The neighbours probably didn't suspect anything of the office building, identical to any other save for the number of people in lab coats that entered every day. In truth, the office was just a facade. Underneath the empty building and reaching deep underground, further than Hanzo had yet been permitted access too, Talon had a huge complex of concrete and steel where they ran their experiments.  
  
Hanzo had been working undercover for three weeks, gathering the intel Overwatch needed to raid the base and hand over those in charge to the authorities. A good agent, he did not resent being away from his friends and brother so long — he regularly reported back and the apartment that Winston had secured for him was small but serviceable.  
  
If only the work and his new coworkers hadn't been so _odious_.  
  
Hanzo gritted his teeth as a howl of pain was abruptly cut off. He forced himself to keep walking, to keep his face impassive, unaffected — Fujikawa Nobu did not care that Talon tortured people in the name of scientific advancement. Besides, Doctor O'Deorain hated when people were late.  
  
She was waiting in the atrium, her back ramrod straight as she watched half a dozen men wheel in a reinforced steel containment tank. If Hanzo hadn't known any better he would think Moira bored, but her hands were clenched tightly at her back even as she glanced in Hanzo's direction. "I thought you would be late," Moira said, an eyebrow lifting as she gave him a thin smile.  
  
Hanzo doesn't dignify that with a response, and conveniently Fujikawa had cultivated a reputation as a man of few words and a particular distaste for small talk. It was one of the things Hanzo suspected O'Deorain liked about him, since it gave her more time to expound upon her own scientific philosophy.  
  
"It would be a pity if you had," Moira continued as Hanzo joined her in watching the men struggle to move the enormous tank. The murky water sloshed about, letting them catch glimpses of a dark shape floating inside. "There are few people on this base who can fully appreciate the importance of Talon's latest acquisition."  
  
Moira had been secretive about their newest find but unable to keep herself from dropping hints in conversations in the days leading up to its arrival. Hanzo hadn't been able to gather much — Winston had been clear, however, that given Moira's excitement, Hanzo's task was to find out exactly what was in that tank.  
  
"I know you are curious as to what, exactly, is in the tank." Her grin only grew more pointed when Hanzo peered at Moira over his spectacles. "The correct question is not what, but _whom_. Talon has always made it a point to follow any rumours of intelligent beings, creatures that can think like us but are _not_ like us."  
  
"I did not know you believed in fairy stories," Hanzo scoffed, trying to sound dismissive. His heart thumped in his chest, however, and he stole another glance at the tank. Whatever was in the water seemed to be moving, shifting, and Hanzo took a step towards it without thinking. The men finished securing the tank to a trolley and started wheeling it away into the lab.  
  
Something suddenly thumped against the glass hard enough to make the whole tank shake. Almost human but not.  
  
A _hand_.  
  
"Evidently, this is not just a story," Moira said, unbearably smug.  
  
Hanzo did not get to see the creature inside the tank that day. It was over a week before he was able to enter the lab it was being kept in unobserved, so protective was Talon of their new acquisition. Hanzo had to pick his moment carefully and still he knew as he closed the door silently behind him that he likely only had minutes before someone returned.  
  
Workstations piled high with notes were strewn across the space and Hanzo had to avoid stepping on more sheets of loose paper that had slipped from the stacks on the ground. Detailed observations of the creature were pinned to boards, immediately drawing Hanzo's attention to what looked like sketches of scales, but it was not immediately obvious where the creature itself was being kept.  
  
Stranger still, the entire room smelled of the ocean. It brought to mind days on the beach, of a blazing hot sun overhead, calling seagulls and crunching sand. Hanzo didn't realise he was following the smell of saltwater until he walked past a workstation and in front of him was a pool, deep and dark. The water lapped against the concrete, a chain moving slowly across the surface leaving ripples in its wake.  
  
If the creature was in there or elsewhere, Hanzo couldn't say, so he left the pool to read through what Talon had gathered. They were sure of little beyond the creature being male and in good health. Superficially it- he- shared many traits with the marine reptiles native to the region he was found in, though they noted his tail was proportionally shorter. The creature seemed to make up for it with muscular legs, and standing upright they estimated he was over six feet tall.  
  
That explained why they had chosen to transport it in such a heavy duty containment tank, but Hanzo felt pity for the creature. For a being used to the freedom of the sea, a containment tank barely larger than he was would feel like a coffin.  
  
The muffled voices from outside grew closer as the door latch clicked, sending Hanzo ducking out of sight. "It's in here, Ogundimu," Doctor O'Deorain said as she lead Doomfist into the lab. They walked past the desk Hanzo was hiding under and straight to the pool, stopping with the water an inch from their feet. "A moment, please. It needs to be coaxed."  
  
"You have not trained it yet?" Doomfist asked, folding his arms over his chest.  
  
"It is intelligent enough to be trained with time, but I require more expedient methods."  
  
In Moira's hands was something like a cattle prod, though the noise it made when she tapped the wet concrete was louder, more violent. The water erupted as something lunged for Moira, but the chain snapped taut and the creature was pulled up short by the manacle around his neck, choking him.  
  
Moira jabbed the cattle prod into the creature's chest, wrenching an agonised scream from him before he fell back into the water. She looked unconcerned at how the water went still again, pulling out a hankerchief to wipe down her weapon. "It can be reasoned with, in the animal way."  
  
"Through violence," Doomfist said, sounding faintly amused.  
  
Hanzo was almost certain they had killed him — the water stayed still for a long moment, but the creature rose from the water again, slower this time and now out of reach of the cattle prod. He was like nothing Hanzo had ever seen before, covered in bright red scales and with an impressive amount of definition in his musculature. A bony crest ran along his brow and curved towards his jaw, like horns, and his dark eyes, almost entirely hidden by the thick hair-like fur on his head, watched Moira and her cattle prod.  
  
Doomfist took a step closer and the creature flinched back, hissing and baring sharp teeth. "A fascinating specimen."  
  
"In its prime, they tell me, though note the injury to its arm." Moira pointed with her cattle prod and the creature recoiled to the far end of the pool. Doomfist made a thoughtful noise as Hanzo also noticed how the scales on his left arm were completely black. "The original limb looks to have been lost and then regrown, more similar to an amphibian than its reptilian nature would suggest."  
  
She continued to talk about what this could mean for Talon's research into limb regeneration — Hanzo tuned her out in favour of watching the creature. He couldn't be sure exactly how intelligent he was but the creature certainly seemed to feel a human-level of resentment; he didn't stop glaring at Moira as she talked about him as though he was nothing more than a particularly interesting bit of data. For a second though, he glanced over to where Hanzo was hiding.  
  
Hanzo held his breath and silently willed the creature to look away. The creature slid back into his pool with a last hiss, the chain going slack.  
  
Apparently done with the creature, Moira guided Doomfist out of the lab, still talking. Hanzo started to crawl out from under the desk when Doomfist's deep voice interrupted her. "I understand, but we should see what can be learned from the creature, alive, before we resort to vivisecting it."  
  
"...Of course," Moira said, somehow sounding disappointed before the door clicked shut behind them.  
  
Hanzo should report back to Winston as soon as possible about the creature — now, before he was caught. And yet, he emerged from under the desk and went back to looking through more of the notes, keeping one eye on the pool as he went. The most remarkable thing he found was only notable in how out of place it was; an old, stained leather Stetson, with a note saying it had been found with the creature. Hanzo couldn't imagine Moira had seen it yet or she would have ordered it thrown out. What use to science was a moldy bit of scrap leather?  
  
Hanzo picked up the hat and turned it over in his hands, unable to disagree. It had no value to their research, no real value to anyone. The only possible value it had was to the being currently at the bottom of the saltwater pool, and a glace showed the water still gently rippling with no sign of the creature.  
  
It was foolish, but Hanzo found himself approaching the pool still holding the hat. Who knew if the creature was even intelligent enough to appreciate the gesture or if it would assume Hanzo was simply there to torment him and lash out? It was a stupid risk to take, but still Hanzo crouched down and contemplated how to summon the creature. The thought of Moira's cattle prod made his stomach churn.  
  
"Hello?" Hanzo called and dipped his fingers into the pool, sending out ripples.  
  
The chain went still and the moment seemed to hang between them, silent and breathless. When the creature surfaced, it was only enough to peer at Hanzo over the surface of the water, staying submerge but for the end of his tail which slid out of the pool.  
  
"I know you do not want to see another person but... I thought you might like this." Hanzo held out the hat to him and waited.  
  
The creature loosed a low growl that rumbled like thunder. The water shivered and danced around him, and even the concrete seemed to vibrate under Hanzo's knees, but it didn't move either to attack him or take the hat.  
  
Hanzo sighed. "I would feel the same if I was in your place. I will leave your hat here, is that a fair compromise? And you may decide what to do with it." He placed the hat at the edge of the pool and shuffled back before standing.  
  
The creature only swam closer when Hanzo was behind a worktable, though he kept a wary eye fixed on him the whole time. He snatched it from the concrete and darted back, hissing loudly. Considering he jammed the hat on to his head before disappearing back into the water, Hanzo assumed he was grateful, slipping out of the room to leave him in peace.  


**Author's Note:**

> i'm probably gonna get a little uh creative with the prompts this time around, but i saw a chance to write the Shape of Water AU of my daydreams and i took it lol


End file.
